Red alert in Pakistan (Updated)

Islamabad/Karachi/Lahore, Dec 27 (ANI): A red alert has been sounded in entire Pakistan after the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in a suicide bomb and sniper gun attack in Rawalpindi on Thursday evening. The shocking and tragic development here has sent a shockwave of grief and anger, with her supporters going on rampages in cities of Karachi and Lahore.

Sounds of gunshots were reportedly heard in Karachi with some terming it as a bomb blast. Banks and Government buildings, including a post office, were set on fire by a mob here. Most of the roads have been blocked with burning tyres.

Parts of Sindh faced blackout and mobile network were jammed following the news of Bhutto’s assassination.

In Hyderabad, another city in Sindh, dozens of vehicles were torched by angry mob.

In Peshawar police had to use tear gas and batons after angry demonstrators blocked the main highway and torched billboards and posters of the former ruling party. Furious protesters took to the streets in groups, some of them opening fire in the air and screaming. One local police station was pelted with stones, reported The News.

Incidents of rioting have also been reported from Lahore.

Noted human rights activist Asma Jehnagir blamed Musharraf and the army for today’s tragic incident, and urged the world leaders to ‘wake up’ to the happenings in Pakistan. Meanwhile, the government in Pakistan’s Punjab Province today declared 18 districts of the region as the most sensitive in view of terrorism hazards and confirmed the reports that army will be called in these districts.

Geo News quoted Punjab Home Secretary Khusro Pervaiz Khan as saying that the provincial government has called in the army and contingents of the Rangers to help the police maintain the law and order in these districts. The armed forces would undertake flag marches through the districts, which include Lahore, Multan, Rawalpindi, Dera Ghazi Khan, Faisalabad and Bahawalpur.

In a brief televised address to the nation, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf said that terrorists were responsible for the suicide attack on Bhutto’s rally in Rawalpindi that left 30 people dead and close to 50 others injured.